


Wake Me Up Inside

by Zetal (Rodinia)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Fantasy AU, M/M, The Power Of Love, fairy tale ish?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 20:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14480526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rodinia/pseuds/Zetal
Summary: As long as he can remember, Guang Hong has loved the town clock and its hourly automata display.  It never changes.  Even the paint never fades.The one change Guang Hong can sort of remember is the addition of a musician who strummed a guitar.  When he asks his mother when that happened, she tells him the musician's always been there.  Guang Hong knows that's not right, but how can he prove that?Then another change happens, and Guang Hong's view of the clock is changed forever.





	Wake Me Up Inside

The clock spun around, the figures going through their dance as the bells chimed six o’clock. It was a very boring existence, but that was all right, all of the figures on the clock were simple life-size automatons anyway, so what did it matter? Villagers usually came to watch at least once every few days, even though the brief diorama never changed.

There was a princess, who was slumbering until the prince bowed to kiss her. The prince who kissed her awake, of course. A woodsman, who swung his axe at a large wolf, and the large wolf who turned at the last second to avoid the blow. A ballerina who did a pirouette, a wizard who waved his wand to perform a spell, a jumping jack who jumped, a soldier who swung his sword, and a musician who strummed his guitar.

Guang Hong had made a point of going to watch the clock every day since he could remember, no matter what the weather or the other responsibilities he had that day. He loved the clock, and he couldn’t bear the thought of missing its show, even for a day. You’d think that would get him taken seriously when he asked his mother when the musician had been added.

“Honey, that musician’s always been there,” his mother had told him. “Ever since I was a girl, and my mother said it hadn’t changed since she was a girl. That clock’s always been the same. The paint doesn’t fade, the parts never need oiling. It’s just our clock. No one would have the slightest idea how to add something to it, dear!”

“But that musician wasn’t there when I was little! I can’t remember when it showed up, but I know it hasn’t always been there!”

“You’re imagining things, sweetie,” his mother reassured him. “Nothing about that clock has ever changed, not since it was built, and it’ll be a long time before it ever changes. Now run along, you don’t want to miss the show, do you?”

Guang Hong ran along. When the bells started and the stage opened, he stared hard at the musician. It played just like it always had, and he tried to remember when he’d first noticed it. A year ago? Two? No, it had to be more than that, because he remembered telling a girl that the musician was his favorite, and that girl had left town four years ago. The musician had to have been here then. It was possible that it was just that his taste had changed since then, but six years ago, he’d told his grandmother that the ballerina was his favorite. Five years, maybe? Five years since the musician had appeared?

When the stage started to close, Guang Hong looked at the musician one last time. He gasped in shock as the musician looked back, his dark brown eyes showing signs of… life? It couldn’t be. Guang Hong was imagining things. Maybe his mother was right and he was imagining that the musician hadn’t always been there.

 

The eyes haunted him all evening. All of the figures were very realistically painted, of course. Very natural-looking skin, the clothing looked like it could be worn by people, the only thing that didn’t look real was the dead look in the eyes. The musician’s eyes hadn’t looked like that. There had been a spark in there.

He was supposed to be asleep. He couldn’t sleep, though. Not until he knew for sure what he’d seen. Guang Hong got out of bed and dressed quickly. If he hurried, he could just catch the 2 am show.

The clock keeper had gas lights burning to illuminate the display. Guang Hong was out of breath when he got there, just in time to see the stage open. As soon as he saw the musician, he knew. The musician was different from the rest of them.

The musician got up and walked off the stage, dropping the six feet to the ground. He walked up to Guang Hong, staring at him in confusion. “What’s happening? Where am I?”

Guang Hong gaped, trying to reconcile what he knew about the clock and the automatons and how they were supposed to work with the person standing in front of him. “You’re in Shanghai, and if you figure out what’s happening, I hope you’ll tell me. I thought you were an automaton, but you can talk!”

“I’m… not sure what I am,” the musician admitted. “I remember being a child, I remember growing, and then… I remember having a problem. I rusted. People don’t rust. I went looking for help, and found a mechanic. That’s the last thing I remember until I saw you.” He looked up at the sky. “How long ago was that? It was still light, then. Now it’s dark.”

“Eight hours… you don’t remember anything in between seeing me before and seeing me now?”

“No. Nothing. I saw you, but only a glimpse, and then everything went dark. Then I saw you again, just now. Eight hours?”

“Yeah… you were part of this clock’s hourly display. You’ve been part of the display for years. That’s why I thought you were an automaton, like them.” Guang Hong reached out and touched the musician’s arm. It felt real, not like touching a wooden or metal automaton. Like touching a human. “Wait right here. I want to try something.”

“All right.”

Guang Hong turned and ran up the street, ducking out of sight and counting to a hundred. When he came back, the musician had moved, sitting on a bench in front of the clocktower. “Hello?”

“You’re back! I wasn’t sure how long you’d be gone, so I came over here. Is that okay?”

“You remember me being gone, this time?”

“Yes. Shouldn’t I?”

“Well, it’s just, you didn’t remember me being gone before.”

“Oh. That’s true.”

“Do you have a name?”

“Of course I have a name! Who doesn’t have a name? My name is Leo de la Iglesia, and I’m from Colorado Springs. What’s your name?”

“Ji Guang Hong. Are… you hungry?” Guang Hong felt silly asking, but he had no idea what else to say in this situation. He’d never seen an automaton come to life before.

“Not really, but I’d like to get away from here… this clock tower is kind of giving me the creeps.” Leo shuddered and got to his feet. “Does it creep you out?”

“No, I love it. I come watch it every day. Come on, I’ll… take you to my house, I guess.” How he was going to explain to his mother that he’d kidnapped his favorite automaton. If it was an automaton.

On the way home, it was dark, and Leo tripped. When he got to his feet, he stared at his hands in shock while Guang Hong picked up the lute. Leo held out his hands. “I’m leaking.”

Guang Hong glanced at the hands. They were covered in small scrapes, and a little blood was welling up. “You’re bleeding, that’s all.”

“But I’ve never bled before!” Leo looked so freaked out that Guang Hong almost laughed – until he remembered that Leo wasn’t exactly a normal human. “This isn’t funny, Guang Hong! What’s happening to me?”

“I don’t know. Until an hour ago, I thought you were a mindless automaton, remember? Come on, let’s just get you to my house, and I’ll take you to a doctor or a mechanic or both in the morning. Okay?”

 

Leo was asleep when Guang Hong woke up the next morning, which was rather confusing. Why would he sleep? He went to the kitchen, where his mother was ladling some porridge in a bowl. “Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep well?”

“No… hey Mom? You know the musician on the clock tower?”

His mother set the porridge down and tilted her head, looking at Guang Hong in confusion. “What musician, sweetie? There’s no musician on the clock tower.”

“What? Mom, just last night you were telling me the musician had been there ever since your mother was a little girl, when I didn’t think so!”

“Are you feeling okay?” His mother put a hand to Guang Hong’s forehead. “No fever… do you need a doctor?”

“No, I just didn’t sleep well.” Guang Hong wolfed down his porridge and ran back upstairs.

Leo woke up as Guang Hong charged into the room. “Guang Hong?”

“Mom doesn’t remember you. Yesterday she didn’t remember you ever not being on the clock, and today she didn’t remember you being on the clock. You said you’d never bled before, that you rusted. I think you used to be some kind of automaton, but now you’re a real human. Does that makes sense?”

Leo stared at the cuts on his hands, and then looked up at Guang Hong. “Maybe. I had dreams last night, dreams that I think were of my old life. I remember my father dying, and when he died, my tears are what rusted me. Dad was the only family I had, and the other kids in our village never really liked me. They thought I was weird. Not like them. I went to a mechanic about the rust, and he said that I was an automaton. And then I was on that clock tower, and you were there.”

“So… what, love makes you come to life?”

“I guess?” Leo looked back at his hands. “Thank you for loving me hard enough to bring me back, then.”


End file.
